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Profound Impact

My PRISMA experience was magical, as I think it was for everyone. What makes PRISMA special is how Arthur Arnold prioritizes performing with passion, energy and phrasing. For the PRISMA orchestra, it isn't just about putting the musical pieces together and playing in tune -- Arthur Arnold inspires students to take gutsy musical risks and play with heart so that we can reach audience members at a deep level. The orchestra's energy, "oneness" and the almost tangible connection with the audience gives me goosebumps, and has made a profound impact on me as a young conductor.

Furthermore, Powell River is a hidden gem, and the podium time was generous. There was nothing more I could have asked for from my PRISMA experience.

Learning So Much

The faculty really care about the students. We get so much attention and great opportunities—like being able to play alongside them—and then just the fact that so many coaches are at each sectional, basically the whole woodwind faculty. We’re getting input a mile a minute from all these amazing professionals. The faculty really care and I’m just learning so much from them.

I would love to do chamber music or get a job in an orchestra, and PRISMA is definitely helping with that, because I’m getting to play in an orchestra under an amazing conductor. Also, from the mock auditions that we’re having and the lessons with Roger Cole, I’m learning so much in such a short amount of time that I’ll be able to take with me and apply all year. It’s a lot of learning and it’s wonderful here.

Lydia Consilvio, 2016 oboe student, Yale School of Music

Love for Music

Home at last, but missing the wonderful place that I got to call home these last two weeks. I thought that I had known what to expect, this being my second year attending PRISMA, but the love that this community and these musicians have for music is so powerful, it blew me away again. Arthur Arnold's energy, passion, and love for music and just for life is infectious and all of us caught the bug. It's so easy to lose sight of why we are in this field when we are constantly competing and trying to win. What we sometimes forget is that we really do love this. And we have such a beautiful power in the form of music and we have to share that with everyone. It was such an honor to make beautiful music with such talented friends for such a wonderful community. See you next year, Powell River!

It Includes So Much

The lessons at PRISMA make it more than only an orchestra project. You really have a lot of private lessons and masterclasses and excerpts and audition training. It includes so much.

Philipp Mellies, 2016 flute student, Conservatory of Amsterdam

Challenges You to Instantly Become Better

Playing in that caliber of an ensemble was incredible. Sitting next to world class players like that challenges you & pushes you to instantly become better. Watching them run rehearsals, interact with each other, exchange musical ideas (even when they didn't all agree), was definitely the most beneficial thing I was a part of at PRISMA.

Kelley Tracz, USA, 2016 student, University of Minnesota

Winning a Job

The orchestra rehearsals, audition training, concerto competition, and private lessons were exactly what I needed to be at my best to audition for and win my job with the Topeka Symphony.

Unforgettable Prisma

I felt myself the luckiest person yesterday night. Beside of playing with amazing people for the most enthusiastic audiences, I got those beautiful flowers from the nicest conductor Arthur Arnold's hand!

It was such an honourable moment, thank you Maestro, it was an unforgettable Prisma...

Güneş Hızlılar, 2015 harp student, Mozarteum Salzburg

Enthusiasm of the Audiences

Among many other things, the residents of Powell River, BC were one of my favourite parts of the festival. Just seeing the joy, excitement, and support that these people gave to the festival was amazing, and performances were made so much more enjoyable by the enthusiasm of the audiences.

Top Notch

The two weeks I spent at PRISMA were definitely the highlight of my summer. I could feel that this was a different sort of experience the minute I stepped off the plane onto the tarmac at the Powell River Airport and saw many members of the community holding up signs welcoming us to the town and PRISMA. The faculty were all very engaging, and they were always ready to help us with any questions that we had, whether it concerned orchestral auditions or solo repertoire. The orchestral program at PRISMA is top notch as well, and Maestro Arnold is a fantastic leader who is able to unite a group of students from all over the world for a common goal: to make beautiful music.

Nicholas Bentz, 2014, 2015 violin student, Peabody Institute

True Music Making

PRISMA is one of the few quality workshops that strives to create a safe, inspiring environment where egos are left at the door and true music making can happen.

Kyle Baldwin, 2014 conducting student, San Francisco State University

What a Privilege

I have always plotted escape from the distractions of the real world and a chance to completely immerse myself in music. That's what I found at PRISMA, from the moment I woke to the time my head hit the pillow super-saturated with Mahler and Bartok. Surrounded by the beautiful landscape of Powell River, and inspired by the teaching and example of musical masters, some of the greatest music ever written comes to life. It becomes our life, and we live in it, and it lives in us. And suddenly, we are a part of a new music – a symphony of life stretching back to the day the composer first set pen to manuscript, through time and history to our now, and beyond to those who will live and learn and play the music in every now that is yet to come. What a privilege!

POWELL RIVER — BC’s own summer orchestra academy, the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy (PRISMA), is returning this season from June 13th – 25th in Powell River, B.C. For its fourth season, the festival is partnering with Canada’s youngest recognized nation to celebrate a monumental treaty in the region. In addition, the academy will premiere Fires of the Past: Facing the Future, a film about Tla’amin Nation’s experience with the treaty process.

New to PRISMA 2016: In-House Luthier, Laura Wallace
Several of our students are all too familiar with the troubles of broken strings and instrument malfunctions. This season, we’re going to help solve them: with our very own in-house luthier.

Hello Powell River!
If you have signed up for, or are considering, TELUS Optik TV, you should know about this TELUS initiative whereby certain charitable organizations can benefit from your enrolment!
TELUS is partnering with local charitable organizations through TELUS Fibre for Good Powell River. When residents sign up for Optik TV on the fibre network, they select a participating charitable organization to receive a $25 grant on their behalf, courtesy of TELUS. PRISMA is one of the approved charities. The program ends on November 15, 2015, or once the program reaches a maximum of $10,000.

PRISMA is excited to announce the famous Canadian cellist Amanda Forsyth as a guest artist at PRISMA 2015. Forsyth will perform the second cello concerto of Victor Herbert with the Pacific Philharmonic on June 27. She will also take part in the chamber music concert with the c minor string quartet of Johannes Brahms with the other string faculty.

The audition requirements for PRISMA have been expanded. Students are welcome to choose the suggested audition repertoire or may use any other audition video to apply for PRISMA as long as this video has som

Arthur Arnold made his conducting debut with the visiting Moscow Symphony Orchestra in 2001 at Amsterdam’s prestigious Concertgebouw, where the conductor famously descends through the audience on a staircase from the balcony level, then through the orchestra and over to the podium, surrounded by applause and anticipation. It was an extraordinary moment for Mr. Arnold, who, as a 14-year-old, had snuck into the same hall – darkened – and stood on the podium, dreaming of this.

Home

“What an incredible, exciting evening - a combination of events rarely combined on one stage in a spectacular performance. Congratulations to all the marvelous musicians and supporters of the 2016 PRISMA festival. What you have developed in Powell River is unique and I am immensely proud to be patron of this organization.”

BC’s own PRISMA Festival takes place in Powell River on the beautiful Pacific coast of Canada. The festival attracts world-renowned guest artists and top international music students. PRISMA draws over 5000 concertgoers from BC and beyond to daily musical events, symphony and chamber music concerts, master classes and student recitals. The PRISMA Festival Orchestra, the highlight of the festival, performs three full symphony concerts.

Returning in 2018: The Gala Grand Opening Concert. A feast of music where all PRISMA musicians, guest artist and students perform a wide variety of exciting repertoire. Even the full orchestra will be heard during this opening concert.

PRISMA on the Beach: Thousands of people gather on Willingdon Beach to listen to the live music of the PRISMA Festival Orchestra and enjoy the festivities. A great variety of food concessions completes the celebration.

Daily Musical Events: PRISMA guest artists work with students during inspiring master classes open to the public. See and hear the students improve in front of your eyes and ears. Stay for free student recitals afternoons on non-concert days.

The Concerto Competition: An exciting part of PRISMA! The winner of the grand prize, a week in the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, will be selected by the international jury.

The PRISMA Festival & Academy is an opportunity for enthusiastic young musicians to prepare for positions in professional orchestras. PRISMA’s vision is to be a premier North American summer music school, attracting students by merit and patrons by the quality of the program to Powell River, a city rich in cultural and musical tradition. PRISMA is a registered charity, now in its sixth season, established in 2012.

"Let me extend my personal invitation to you and your friends and family to attend the PRISMA Festival events of your choosing.

Made possible by the Government of British Columbia, BC Arts Council, City of Powell River, Tla'amin Nation, PR Regional District, PR Community Foundation, PR Community Forest, RBC Emerging Artists Fund and the Powell River Council for Arts and Culture.